Mark Twain Biography

Mark Twain was an American author, essayist, lecturer and humorist. Mark Twain wrote some of the famous book series such as Adventures of Huckleberry and the Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Mark Twain’s real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but he is well known as Mark Twain. Mark Twain is well known for his notable and insightful satires that not only gained him success and respect but also critics. Some of his contemporaries called Mark Twain as the Father of the English Literature.

Personal Biography

Mark Twain was born in the year 1935 on November 30th. He was born in Florida Missouri in the United States. Mark’s father Jane Lampton Clemens was a country Merchant. Mark was the sixth child of his father. Mark’s family moved to a port town named Hannibal which is situated on the banks of river Mississippi, when he was 4 years old. Mark’s father died in the year 1847 thus leaving the family in financial upheaval. Mark never received a formal education when he was a child but being a keen learner he widened his knowledge by finding information in public libraries. While travelling to New Orleans, Mark got immensely fascinated with the steamboats and thus became a successful river pilot in the year 1858 after earning a proper licence.

Mark Twain got married in the year 1870 to Olivia Livy Langdon. The couple had 1 son and three daughters but only one daughter was able to survive the adulthood. Mark Twain’s wife hailed from a wealthy and liberal family thus proved to be a helping hand in her career. Through his wife Mark met many writers, scholars and authors who in turn helped Mark to settle as a writer.

Career

Initially Mark Twain worked as a Typesetter to aid his family, later he worked as a printer. With the outbreak of the civil war Mark travelled to lot of cities and took some odd jobs such as mining and river pilot. In the year 1863, Mark got his first writing job in a Virginia City newspaper where his wrote his humorous account of his travel. This gave Mark a kick start for his writing career which followed with his first travel letters on his travel experience of Europe and Middle East that Mark Wrote in 1869. In 1880 Mark’s satirical travel grove was released. Mark Twain wrote his first important work in 1885- The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras Country. It was acclaimed as the best seller within a short span of time. Though much work of Mark Twain were suppressed and censored yet some of his work has received acclaim and honour.

Awards & Achievements

The greatest achievement of Mark Twain was his book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

Quotes

“A man's character may be learned from the adjectives which he habitually uses in conversation”
- Mark Twain

“Action speaks louder than words but not nearly as often”
- Mark Twain

“All generalizations are false, including this one.”
- Mark Twain

“Any emotion, if it is sincere, is involuntary”
- Mark Twain

“But who prays for Satan? Who, in eighteen centuries, has had the common humanity to pray for the one sinner that needed it most?”
- Mark Twain

“Don't go around saying the world owes you a living; the world owes you nothing; it was here first”
- Mark Twain

“Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.”
- Mark Twain

“I was seldom able to see an opportunity until it had ceased to be one”
- Mark Twain

“It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so.”
- Mark Twain

“It is easier to stay out than get out.”
- Mark Twain

“It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog.”
- Mark Twain

“Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen”
- Mark Twain

“Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is hollering about.”
- Mark Twain

“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”
- Mark Twain

“Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very"; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be”
- Mark Twain

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.”
- Mark Twain

“The more things are forbidden, the more popular they become”
- Mark Twain

“The more you explain it, the more I don't understand it”
- Mark Twain

“The most interesting information comes from children, for they tell all they know and then stop”
- Mark Twain

“The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, and do what you'd rather not.”
- Mark Twain

“The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.”
- Mark Twain

“Thunder is good, thunder is impressive; but it is lightning that does all the work”
- Mark Twain